Disorganized, disjointed, and sometimes completely lost,
but finding my way through writing.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

SoL- apples and chaos

Monday night, band rehearsal.

Tuesday night is play rehearsal for one, soccer practice for
the other.

I’ve had meetings the past two Wednesday nights.

Thursdays are for soccer practice

Friday afternoon means afterschool theater, nighttime
marching band.

On Saturday, we head out to two different soccer games.

Sunday afternoon, I’m busy planning Monday’s class.

The above description of our week explains why my daughter
was complaining about having frozen chicken nuggets for supper, again.

I haven’t been able to figure out how to fit in a family
supper more than once a week. I make food that can travel, or make individual
sized meals that each person eats before or after activities. I’m not a great
cook, and my girls are finicky eaters, and I’m trying to avoid take-out and
drive-through windows – and all of that combined makes for a stressful
meal-time.

And, I haven’t been much fun to be around, either.

So, when Monday’s band rehearsal was cancelled, I decided to
be a little more fun. The girls and I went to one of the local apple picking
farms and filled two bags. We walked all over the orchard, looking for the best
fruit; we climbed to the top of the hill for an unexpected view of acres of
pines and maples; and we gathered the most beautiful red and orange and yellow
leaves to take home and press.

When we got home, I scoured the empty cupboards and found a few
potatoes to make the girls’ favorite home fries, baked some squash to make a
batch of soup sweetened with apples, and cooked a supper that the four of us
could enjoy together. It was lovely.

Today, I put aside the pile of essays I was grading when the
girls came home from school and fried up a few apples with cinnamon as an
afterschool treat.

Yes, I threw leftover spaghetti sauce and mozzarella onto a
refrigerated pizza dough and called it supper before shuttling the kids to
theater and soccer, and I’m typing this in my car (which is not helping my sore
wrist) while I wait for rehearsal to be over, but the smell of those cinnamon apples
and my daughter’s lip-snacking smile is still with me.

This level of business is new for us. There’s a lot I like
about it, and a lot I don’t. I’m looking forward to the end of soccer season in
a few weeks, but I know there will be other activities to take its place. I
just need to remember to stop and smell the apples, and enjoy my beautiful
girls through the chaos.

Just love this phrase " my daughter’s lip-snacking smile is still with me.I loved the adventure you had with your daughters. My schedule has been full as well. I need to take time to enjoy time with my children, and not just stay in a rut of routine. I may have to go and pick some apples this weekend. Thank you.

Thanks for reading, folks.By way of update - both my husband and I were able to linger a bit this morning for a shared cup of coffee and some grown up conversation. Maybe I am getting into the groove, after all.